Congress leader Surjewala claims PM Modi's event in MP not well attended

Bhopal, Sep 25 (PTI) The 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh' addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh was a "flop show" as just "50,000" attended it against claims by the Bharatiya Janata Party that 10 lakh persons took part, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged.

Addressing a massive gathering of BJP workers, here, the PM tore into the Congress, equating the national party with "rusted iron" and alleging its functioning has been outsourced to "urban Naxals" and that the organisation is not run by leaders.

"Despite spending crores of rupees, the Karyakarta Mahakumbh was unable to gather even 50,000 workers against the BJP claim of gathering 10 lakh partymen,” Surjewala told reporters.

The PM did not mention a single scheme of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government since he knew all these are mired in corruption, Surjewala claimed.

Referring to Modi's statement that first time voters were lucky enough as they had not seen Congress rule in MP but only development under the BJP dispensation, Surjewala said corruption like the infamous Vyapam scam had ruined the future of more than one crore youth who appeared for 23 exams conducted by the state-run recruitment body.

The BJP has been in power in MP since 2003, except for a period between December 2018 and March 2020 when Kamal Nath led a Congress government.

Surjewala alleged papers of the patwari recruitment exam held recently in the state were sold for Rs 15 lakh each.

Referring to the educational infrastructure in the state, Surjewala said, in 18 years of BJP rule, there was no electricity connection in 26,000 schools, 29,000 schools were permanently closed and there was a decrease in enrolment of nine lakh students.

He also claimed 18,966 unemployed youths had committed suicide in the state in the last 18 years.

While the BJP had promised to double farm income, in the last 18 years some 20,000 cultivators had ended their lives, the Congress leader claimed.

MP is number one in atrocities on tribals and Dalits, Surjewala said and highlighted the infamous urination incident on a tribal person in Sidhi district.

The BJP government has cancelled the land lease of 3.22 lakh persons hailing from the Scheduled Tribes, he added.

The 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh' turned out to be a 'jumlo ka mahakumbh", Surjewala said. PTI MAS BNM BNM